For 24 hours, millions of people around the world do not participate -- in the doomsday economy, the marketing mind-games, and the frantic consumer-binge that's become our culture. We pause. We make a small choice not to shop. We shrink our footprint and gain some calm. Together we say to Exxon, Nike, Coke and the rest: enough is enough. And we help build this movement to rethink our unsustainable course.

"So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wive's tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS - OTHER PEOPLE!"

I can't stand shopping the day after thanksgiving simply because I can't stand the stampede of people. Might test drive some cars, but I won't buy anything. Just want to see if any of the dealerships back home have what I'm looking for.

"To come to your senses, you must first go out of your mind." - Alan Watts

OK...I didn't know it was the day after thanksgiving
being Canadain we already had Thanksgiving.

but I think it's a good idea!!

they aslo have a buy nothing for x-mas campaine going, but with 2 kids I'm unable to do that,... they both still belive in Santa.

BUT I am trying to buy less for x-mas and make more things for people instead!

"So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wive's tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS - OTHER PEOPLE!"

wicked wrote:BUT I am trying to buy less for x-mas and make more things for people instead!

Way to go wicked! Last year I drew portraits for my grandparents of their wedding pictures. All I had to buy were the frames. They were probably the best gifts I've ever given to my grandparents. I told my mother to tell her sisters (who are in charge of xmas on that side of the family) that I don't want any gifts this year. Just coming home and spending time with the family is enough for me. I'm the oldest grandchild of 11 on my mom's side, so I'm paving the way for a simpler xmas over there. It'll really make a difference not having to find & buy gifts for even one grandchild. My brother is next!

For our small nucleur family (mom, dad, bro, & me) I think we will just hang out together one evening this holiday - just have dinner together and watch a movie or take a walk. With 3 people in college this year (mom, me, & bro) it's tough to get presents for everyone. I really like that a lot better, because I get really anxious at xmas. I love love love being around family and the party, the food, all of that, but I really don't like the gift-opening. It's just so overwhelming for me -- I have big families on both mom & dad's sides. Maybe that's why I've always liked Thanksgiving better -- all the same food and family and fun as xmas, just without the gifts!

I may go to the mall with my mom, aunts, & girl-cousins on the 26th, but I usually don't buy anything.

Um, in my room, one seam is a little off and I stare at it constantly. It's, like, destroying me.

It’s very refreshing to find a group of people who aren’t saying
"Yeah like that will work."

Sheesh do they really think it will "work"? Do they think I am naive enough to think that the public at large will NOT shop...well NO! Of course I don't believe that en'mass the public will not go shopping...but hell if it made 10 people stop and THINK then it did what it intended to do!

"So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wive's tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS - OTHER PEOPLE!"

"So this is hell. I'd never have believed it. You remember all we were told about the torture-chambers, the fire and brimstone, the "burning marl." Old wive's tales! There's no need for red-hot pokers. HELL IS - OTHER PEOPLE!"

I lost all respect for adbusters after they started doing their "anti-label" label. A black dot is just as much a viral marketing ploy as a nike swoosh. They're not proving a point, they're joining in on the exact thing they've railed against for years.

And now they're making sneakers?!? I thought the point was to think for yourself and make your own informed decisions, and not just do what some marketing guru told you to do. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure."

This would never work, ever.
With that said, I'm gonna join the festivities, although the sales are rather lackluster this year and I doubt I'll buy anything.
It's so invigorating though, to join a large mob and swarm through a store at 5 in the morning.

andrewgd wrote:I lost all respect for adbusters after they started doing their "anti-label" label. A black dot is just as much a viral marketing ploy as a nike swoosh. They're not proving a point, they're joining in on the exact thing they've railed against for years.

And now they're making sneakers?!? I thought the point was to think for yourself and make your own informed decisions, and not just do what some marketing guru told you to do. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

But isn't the point of Black Dot more about creating an anti-sweat company, one where the workers have a share in the profits and one that uses environment friendly materials and manufacturing? Most of us live lives that require we wear shoes, better to get those shoes from companies with a conscience. (Although, I do agree, Adbusters' can be infuriating at times.) Buy Nothing Day, however, is much larger than just Adbusters, as is the Buy Nothing / Anti-Christmas Christmas campaign.

So, the most recent development in American consumerism: Target is advertising a wake-up call hotline for Friday morning in order to wake people up for the sale that starts at 6:00 a.m. (I truly hope that this is a joke)

Last edited by Jody Barsch* on Nov 24th 2004, 8:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Jody Barsch* wrote:But isn't the point of Black Dot more about creating an anti-sweat company, one where the workers have a share in the profits and one that uses environment friendly materials and manufacturing?

That's a good point, and I'm all for that. But Adbusters has a history of railing against the corporate grafitti and logos and slogans that are everywhere now. Why couldn't they make a plain shoe with nothing on it? That way people would buy them for the right reason, and not to wear them to show how hip and worker friendly they're pretending to be.

I realize this has nothing to do with the thread, sorry!

As for Buy Nothing Day, same with TV turnoff week, I think some people have the wrong idea. There will never be enough people buying nothing or turning off the tv to make a difference for any company. But if you're doing it for your personal self, saving money, going outdoors, etc. then it's a good thing. I just think it's a little naive to think what few thousand people extra not buying anything will have any effect.

"Your imagination, like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure."